Abstract : The major objective of the LASH ship pretest was to determine the ability of the Services to uas a LASH bargeship for deploying selected heavy and outsized Logistics-Over-The-Shore (LOTS) equipment to a site where fixed port facilities do not exist. This test was the second of five planned preliminary tests in the Joint LOTS Operational Test and Evaluation program being conducted under the sponsorship of the Deputy Director (Test and Evaluation), Office of the Director, Defense Research and Engineering (ODDR&E). The pretest was the first time a LASH vessel was solely dedicated to a military exercise. As a result, besides providing a means to evaluate certain LOTS capabilities, the pretest provided the means to accomplish a number of major objectives including for the first time: Use of the LCM8 lift beam (a national defense feature developed by MARAD) to load and off-load any LASH ship; Use of the LCM8 lift beam on a C8 type LASH vessel; Military equipment deck-stowed on a LASH ship; Equipment other than barges off-loaded by the LASH barge crane into lighters in a seaway, and Military landing craft, LCM8 and LCU, employed in the discharge of cargo from a LASH ship.